Among the 93 other Miss Universe 2018 candidates who did not win the crown, Miss Sweden Emma Strandberg and Miss Denmark Helena Heuser are probably the ones who were the happiest for the victory of Miss Philippines Catriona Gray. It was the second time the three women competed in an international beauty pageant.

Strandberg, Heuser and Gray competed in Miss World 2016, which was won by Stephanie Del Valle of Puerto Rico. Gray finished in the Top 5 while neither Strandberg nor Heuser placed although the Danish representative made it to the Top 20 of the sports competition.

Miss Universe 2017 Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters crowned Gray as Miss Universe 2018 at the IMPACT Arena in Nonthaburi Province, Thailand on December 17, 2018. On December 25, 2018, Strandberg took to Instagram to share an unaired footage showing how she and Heuser became very emotional right after their Filipino friend was named the most beautiful woman in the universe.

Strandberg and Heuser were roommates during the Miss Universe 2018 competition. Neither made it to the quarterfinals.

Heuser was crowned Miss Denmark 2016 at Docken, Copenhagen, Denmark on September 17, 2016. She competed against 29 other finalists.

Denmark did not participate in Miss Universe 2017. For the 2018 edition, Heuser was appointed as the representative of the country, which is also home to Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Mads Mikkelsen and Scarlett Johansson.

On the other hand, Strandberg was crowned Miss World Sweden 2016 at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden on May 28, 2016. She was crowned Miss Universe Sweden 2018 at the Cafe Opera in Stockholm on September 23, 2018.

Sweden currently has three Miss Universe winners. Representing the country, Hillevi Rombin, Margareta Arvidsson and Yvonne Ryding were crowned in 1955, 1966 and 1984, respectively.

When Miss Universe started in 1952, Denmark was one of the 30 countries represented. Since then, the country has yet to win the title in the beauty pageant.

Meanwhile, Gray is the fourth Miss Universe from the Philippines following Gloria Diaz, Margarita Moran and Pia Wurtzbach, who were crowned in 1969, 1973 and 2015, respectively.